Dóra Molnár

Dóra Molnár (born 29 June 2006) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer. Competing at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships when she was 15 years old, she placed seventh in the 200-metre backstroke, fifth in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and eighth in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay. She is the 2022 European Aquatics Championships bronze medalist in the 200-metre backstroke. She won four gold medals, in the 100-metre backstroke, 4×100-metre freestyle relay, 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, as well as one silver medal, in the 200-metre backstroke, at the 2022 World Junior Championships. At the 2022 European Junior Championships, she won gold medals in the 100-metre backstroke, 200-metre backstroke, 4×200-metre freestyle relay, and 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay and silver medals in the 100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre medley relay.

Background Molnár was born 29 June 2006 in Budafok, Budapest, Hungary."Dóra Molnár" . Eurosport. Retrieved 19 July 2022. She trains with coach Támás Horváth at, and competes for, Budafóka SE swim club."Molnár Dóra" (in Hungarian). Hungarian Swimming Association. Retrieved 22 July 2022.

Career 2021–2022 For the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships, contested at Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto in Rome, Italy in July, Molnár won a bronze medal in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, splitting a 56.20 for the third leg of the relay, placed fourth in the 4×100-metre medley relay, fifth in the 4×100-metre mixed medley relay, and 16th in the 100-metre freestyle with a time of 56.89 seconds.LEN (12 July 2021). "LEN European Junior Swimming Championships Rome - Italy: Complete Results Book" . Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 19 July 2022. Leading up to the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, she achieved a personal best time of 2:09.34 in the 200-metre backstroke at the 2022 Hungarian National Championships, winning the gold medal, and qualifying for the World Championships in the event before stating one of her long terms goals, competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics."Úszás: Egerszegi csúcsát döntötte meg, most a felnőtt vb-re készül" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

2022 World Aquatics Championships As a 15-year-old at her first senior World Championships, the 2022 World Aquatics Championships conducted with pool swimming competition at Danube Arena in Budapest, Molnár placed eighth in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay on the first day, 18 June.FINA (18 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved 19 July 2022. Four days later, she helped achieve a fifth-place finish in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, splitting a 1:59.76 for the second leg of the relay in the final to contribute to the final mark of 7:57.90.FINA (22 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 4x100m Freestyle Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved 19 July 2022. For her individual event, the 200-metre backstroke, she placed seventh in the final on 24 June with a time of 2:10.08, which was a little over three seconds slower than the bronze medalist in the event Rhyan White of the United States.FINA (24 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Women's 200m Backstroke Final Results" . Omega Timing. Retrieved 19 July 2022."Vizes vb: Molnár Dóra a 7., Burián Katalin a 8. 200 háton" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

2022 European Junior Championships

Day one of the 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships, held starting on 5 July in Otopeni, Romania, Molnár swam a 55.11 for lead-off leg of 4×100-metre freestyle relay in the preliminaries to help advance it the final ranking second, before anchoring the relay with a 54.13 in the final to help achieve an eighth-place finish in 3:54.60.LEN (10 July 2022). "Romania 2022: LEN European Junior Swimming Championships: Complete Results Book" . Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 19 July 2022. The second day of competition, she anchored the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay with a time of 54.49 seconds, passing the anchor-leg swimmer on the relay team for Romania to win the gold medal in a final time of 3:28.83."România, două medalii în ziua a 2-a la Europenele de juniori de la Otopeni » Popovici, AUR la 200m liber + ARGINT la ștafeta combinată de 4x100m liber!" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022. On 7 July, she won a gold medal as part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay, helping achieve a finish in 7:59.04 in the final, which was over nine seconds faster than the silver medal-winning team from Italy and over 15 seconds ahead of the fourth-place team from Spain.Adami, Davide (7 July 2022). "Nuoto, Europei giovanili 2022: Spediacci e 4×200 sl donne d'argento! Curtis conquista il bronzo nei 50 sl" (in Italian). OA Sport. Retrieved 19 July 2022.Pérez, Marta (7 July 2022). "El 4x200 libre femenino roza el podio y Carrasco y Tonrath, a sus finales" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

For day four of competition, Molnár won the gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke with a time of 2:10.31 to finish less than one second ahead of the bronze medalist in the event Evie Dilley of Great Britain."Úszás: Molnár Dóra arany-, Bujdosó Zsombor ezüstérmes az ifi Eb-n" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022."Three more medals for Britain after a successful fourth day in Bucharest" . Swim England. 8 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022. The following day, she swam a time of 55.20 seconds in the final of the 100-metre freestyle, winning the silver medal behind Nikolett Pádár, also of Hungary."Pádár Nikolett Arany-, Molnár Dóra Ezüstérmes A Junior Úszó-Eb-n" (in Hungarian). Origo. 9 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022. She followed up her performance with another gold medal the following day, winning the 100-metre backstroke with a time of 1:00.88 to just finish ahead of silver medalist Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium by 0.02 seconds."Roos Vanotterdijk blijft oogsten op EK zwemmen voor junioren: 2x zilver erbij" (in Dutch). Sporza. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022. Later in the same day, the sixth and final day, she won a silver medal in the 4×100-metre medley relay, contributing to a final time of 4:05.48 by splitting a 1:01.58 for the backstroke leg of the relay.

2022 European Aquatics Championships

Molnár was one of fourteen women named to the Hungarian roster in swimming for the 2022 European Aquatics Championships."The Hungarian swimming team ready for Roma 2022. Aces Milák and Hosszú expected to shine" . roma2022.eu. 25 July 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022. In the morning on day one, competing in Rome, Italy at Foro Italico, she ranked second in the preliminaries of the 200-metre backstroke and qualified for the semifinals with a time of 2:09.53.LEN (11 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 200m Backstroke Women Preliminary". Microplus. Retrieved 11 August 2022. Later in the morning session, she anchored the 4×200-metre freestyle relay with a 2:01.72 to help qualify the relay to the final ranking first with a time of 8:01.05.LEN (11 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 4x200m Freestyle Women Preliminary". Microplus. Retrieved 11 August 2022. She finished in a time of 2:09.88 in the evening semifinals of the 200-metre backstroke, qualifying for the final the following day ranking fourth.LEN (11 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 200m Backstroke Women Semi-Final". Microplus. Retrieved 11 August 2022.Pérez, Marta (11 August 2022). "África Zamorano se mete en la final europea de 200 espalda". Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 11 August 2022. Later in the session, she won a bronze medal for her efforts in the prelims heats of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay when the finals relay placed third in 7:55.73.LEN (11 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 4x200m Freestyle Women Final". Microplus. Retrieved 11 August 2022. The following day, at of age, she won the bronze medal in the 200-metre backstroke with a time of 2:09.73.LEN (12 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 200m Backstroke Women Final". Microplus. Retrieved 12 August 2022.Szalay, Attila (12 August 2022). "Molnár Dóra 16 évesen az európai elitben – Eb-bronzérmes Rómában" (in Hungarian). Magyar Nemzet. Retrieved 12 August 2022."Úszó Eb: Molnár Dóra bronzérmes 200 méter háton" (in Hungarian). kisalfold.hu. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.

In the 4×100-metre freestyle relay on day three of competition, Molnár anchored the relay to a fifth-place finish in 3:39.42, splitting a 54.38.LEN (13 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 4x100m Freestyle Women Final". Microplus. Retrieved 13 August 2022."Úszó Eb: ötödik lett a magyar női 4x100 gyorsváltó" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022."Mihályvári-Farkas Viktória Európa-bajnok, Jakabos Zsuzsanna ezüstérmes az úszó-Eb-n" (in Hungarian). Origo. 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022. Two days later, she ranked sixteenth in the preliminaries of the 100-metre backstroke with a 1:01.62 and qualified for the semifinals.LEN (15 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 100m Backstroke Women Preliminary". Microplus. Retrieved 15 August 2022. She placed twelfth in the semifinals with a time of 1:01.13.LEN (15 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 100m Backstroke Women Semi-Final". Microplus. Retrieved 15 August 2022."Úszó Eb: Molnár Dóra nem jutott be a döntőbe 100 méter háton" (in Hungarian). Nemzeti Sport. 15 August 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022. Approximately 90 minutes later, she anchored the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay to a seventh place finish in 3:26.54 along with finals relay teammates Nándor Németh, Szebasztián Szabó, and Nikolett Pádár, contributing a split time of 54.88 seconds.LEN (15 August 2022). "European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results 4x100m Freestyle Mixed Final". Microplus. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

2022 World Junior Championships